Florida Gators

Florida Gators
Established in 1853
Names
Florida Gators
Other Nicknames
UF
Conference
SEC
Location
Gainesville, Florida
Colors
Orange and Blue
Head Coach
Coach Naki (2019 - Present)
Stadium
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
CFP National Championships
3	1996, 2006, 2008
College Football Playoffs Appearances
0	None
Conference Championships
8	1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2006, 2008

The University of Florida (commonly referred to as Florida or UF) is a public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. The university traces its origins to 1853 and has operated continuously on its Gainesville campus since September 1906.

The University of Florida is one of sixty-two elected member institutions of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the association of preeminent North American research universities, and the only AAU member university in Florida. The university is classified as a Research University with Very High Research by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. After the Florida state legislature's creation of performance standards in 2013, the Florida Board of Governors designated the University of Florida as one of the three "preeminent universities" among the twelve universities of the State University System of Florida. For 2019, U.S. News & World Report ranked Florida as the eighth (tied) best public university in the United States.

The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It is the third largest Florida university by student population, and is the eighth largest single-campus university in the United States with 54,906 students enrolled for the fall 2018 semester. The University of Florida is home to sixteen academic colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. It offers multiple graduate professional programs—including business administration, engineering, law, dentistry, medicine, and veterinary medicine—on one contiguous campus, and administers 123 master's degree programs and seventy-six doctoral degree programs in eighty-seven schools and departments. The university's seal is also the seal of the state of Florida which is on the state flag.

The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Fake Collegiate Athletic Association (NFCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They play their home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (nicknamed "The Swamp") on the university's Gainesville campus. The team's current head coach is Naki. The Gators have won three national championships and eight SEC titles in the 111-season history of Florida football.

Rivalry Games

• The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party - Historically, Georgia has been Florida's most hated and fierce rival. Previously known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," and now most commonly called the "Florida–Georgia game" by Gator fans, this rivalry often decides the SEC East and has national implications. The game is held at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, usually on the last Saturday in October or the first Saturday in November. The designated "home" team alternates, with ticket distribution split evenly between the schools.

In the rivalry's early years, games rotated among locations in Savannah, Georgia, Tampa, Florida, Jacksonville and, occasionally, Gainesville and Athens. Since 1933 the game has been played in Jacksonville, except for 1994 and 1995 (when the teams played a pair of home-and-home games at their respective stadiums).

Georgia had early success in the rivalry, winning the first six games and holding a 21–5–1 series lead before 1950. After the 2018 game Florida has won 21 out of the most-recent 29 games, and holds a 38–30–1 advantage in the series since 1950. The Bulldogs lead the series overall, 51–43–2.

Since 2009, the Okefenokee Oar has been awarded to the winner of the Florida-Georgia game. Florida last received the oar for its 2016 victory.

• Third Saturday in September - Although Florida and Tennessee are charter members of the SEC, irregular conference scheduling resulted in the teams meeting infrequently for many years. Tennessee won the first ten games between 1916 and 1954, when Florida finally defeated the Volunteers. In 1969, Florida hired Tennessee head coach (and former Florida quarterback) Doug Dickey to replace the retiring Ray Graves immediately after their teams met in the Gator Bowl.

The rivalry reached a peak during the 1990s. In 1992, the SEC expanded to twelve schools and split into two divisions. Florida and Tennessee (in the Eastern Division) have met every year since, usually in mid-September for both teams' first conference game of the season. Led by coaches Steve Spurrier and Phillip Fulmer and featuring players such as Danny Wuerffel and Peyton Manning, both teams were highly ranked and the game had conference- and national-title implications. Florida and Tennessee combined to win two national championships during the decade.

Since becoming annual opponents, the Gators and Volunteers have combined to represent the Eastern Division in the SEC Championship Game fifteen times in twenty seasons. Florida had an eleven-game winning streak against Tennessee (from 2005 to 2015) and leads the series 28–20 through the 2018 season.

• Coach Conspirator Cup - South Carolina has a habit of hiring SEC East division rival Florida's old coaches, including Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp. This has led to some animosity between the two schools' fan bases.

• Sunshine Showdown - The University of Florida and the Florida State College for Women became co-educational in 1947. The new Florida State Seminoles football team began playing small colleges, moving up to the major-college ranks in 1955. Almost immediately, Florida State students and supporters called for the teams of Florida's two largest universities to play each other annually.

Contrary to popular belief, Florida's state legislature did not decree that Florida and Florida State should meet on the field; a bill mandating the game was rejected by the Florida Senate.[84] Prodding by Florida governor LeRoy Collins facilitated an agreement between the two universities to begin an annual series in 1958. Due to Florida State's smaller stadium, the first six games were played at Florida Field. The series has alternated between the campuses since 1964, when Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee was expanded. Florida dominated the early series with a 16–2–1 record through 1976. Both teams have produced significant winning streaks, and the series is nearly tied over the past four decades; Florida State holds a 23–16–1 advantage. Florida leads the all-time series, 35–26–2.

The Florida–Florida State game has had national-championship implications since 1990, and both teams have entered the game with top-10 rankings thirteen times. Among these was the Sugar Bowl rematch at the end of the 1996 season, when Florida avenged its only regular-season loss and won its first national championship 52–20.

• Florida-LSU - Louisiana State and Florida first met on the football field in 1937, and have been annual opponents since 1971. Since 1992, LSU has been Florida's permanent inter-divisional rival from the SEC Western Division. The winner of the Florida–LSU game went on to win the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) national championship game in the 2006, 2007, and 2008 seasons. This rivalry has been known recently for close games, with both teams highly ranked. Florida leads the all-time series, 33–29–3.

• Auburn-Florida - Auburn and Florida played annually from 1945 to 2002. In the overall series won-lost record, Auburn is Florida's most evenly-matched SEC opponent. Beginning in the 1980s, one team was usually highly ranked coming into the game and it had conference- and national-title implications.

The series has had several notable upsets. Auburn defeated previously-unbeaten Florida teams in 1993, 1994, 2001, 2006 and 2007, although the Gators won SEC championships in 1993, 1994 and 2006.

The annual series ended in 2002, when the SEC adjusted its football schedules so each team played one permanent and two rotating opponents from the opposite SEC division every year (instead of one rotating and two permanent teams). When Texas A&M and Missouri joined the conference in 2012, the schedule was changed again; each team played one permanent and one rotating opponent from the opposite division every year. LSU was designated as Florida's annual SEC Western Division opponent, and Florida and Auburn play two regular-season games every twelve years. Auburn leads the series, 43–38–2.

• Florida-Miami - Florida and Miami formerly played each other for the Seminole War Canoe Trophy, but they canceled after the 1987 season when Florida's annual SEC schedule expanded to eight games. The teams did not play each other again until the 2001 Sugar Bowl. Florida and Miami played a home-and-home series in 2002 and 2003, and met again in the 2004 Peach Bowl. The Gators won the first leg of a home-and-home series in 2008, ending a six-game losing streak against the Hurricanes. Their 2008 victory against Miami was Florida's only victory against them in the last 30 years. The last scheduled regular-season meeting of the Gators and the Hurricanes was in Miami in 2013, where the Hurricanes won 21–16. The next scheduled matchup between the schools will open up the 2019 season on August 31 at the Camping World Kickoff in Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida

Rivalry Game	Opponent	Streak	Record
The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party	Georgia	Lost 1	0-1
Third Saturday in September	Tennessee	Won 1	1-1
Coach Conspirator Cup	South Carolina	Lost 1	1-1
Sunshine Showdown	Florida State	Won 1	1-0
Florida-LSU	LSU		0-0
Auburn-Florida	Florida	Lost 1	0-1
Florida-Miami	Miami		0-0

2019 Schedule

Week	Opponent	Site	Result
1	TCU	Home
2	Nevada	Away
3	South Carolina	Away
4	Michigan	Home
5	Tennessee	Away
6	Auburn	Home
7	Vanderbilt	Home
8	Georgia	Neutral
9	Missouri	Home
10	LSU	Away
11	Kentucky	Away
12	Florida State	Home

2019 Roster

Starters

Offense

Number	Name	Position	Year	Season Stats	Career Stats
25	Feleipe Franks	QB	JR	400 Passing Yards 72.3% Pass Completion 126.2 QBR 4 Passing Touchdowns 40 Rushing Yards 1 Fumble
25	Jordan Scarlett	RB	SR	644 Rushing Yards 7 Rushing Touchdowns 117 Receiving Yards 10 Receptions 1 Receiving Touchdown 1 Fumble
12	Van Jefferson	WR	SR	38 Receiving Yards 5 Receptions 180 Rushing Yards 2 Rushing Touchdowns 1 Fumble
89	Tyrie Cleveland	WR	SR	94 Receiving Yards 6 Receptions 1 Receiving Touchdown 104 Rushing Yards 1 Rushing Touchdown
10	Josh Hammond	WR	SR	75 Receiving Yards 5 Receptions 1 Receiving Touchdown 99 Rushing Yards 1 Rushing Touchdown
50	Bhima Markusson	TE	FR	76 Receiving Yards 8 Receptions 1 Receiving Touchdown 33 Rushing Yards 1 Fumble
72	Stone Forsythe	LT	JR
61	Brett Heggie	LG	JR
66	Nick Buchanan	OC	SR
67	Chris Bleich	RG	SO
65	Jawaan Taylor	RT	SR

Defense

Number	Name	Position	Year	Season Stats	Career Stats
92	Jabari Zuniga	DE	SR	9 Tackles 4 Tackles For Loss 1 Rumble Recovered 1 Scoop N' Score
55	Kyree Campbell	NT	JR	8 Tackles
56	Tedarrell Slaton	DT	JR	10 Tackles 2 Tackles For Loss
99	Jachai Polite	BUCK	SR	12 Tackles 1 Tackle For Loss
23	Chauncey Gardner-Johnson	STAR	SR	12 Tackles
33	David Reese	MLB	SR	11 Tackles 3 Tackles For Loss
11	Vosean Joseph	MLB	SR	11 Tackles
5	C.J. Henderson	LCB	JR	16 Tackles
2	Brad Stewart	SS	JR	10 Tackles 1 Fumble Recovered
13	Donovan Stiner	FS	JR	7 Tackles 1 Tackle For Loss 1 Forced Fumble
21	Trey Dean	RCB	SO	7 Tackles 1 Tackle For Loss 1 Forced Fumble

Special Teams

Number	Name	Position	Year	Season Stats	Career Stats
43	Tommy Townsend	P	SR	32.5 Yard Average Punt
19	Evan McPherson	K	SO	1/3 Field Goals 16/16 Extra Points 34 Yard Field Goal
16	Freddie Swain	PR	SR
4	Kadarius Toney	KR	JR

School Records

Due to a lack of reliable records for the 2018 season not every record is accurate or available at this time. New statistics and records will be kept starting with the 2019 season.

Team Records

Record Title	Record	Team
Team PPG	39.5	2018
Team Opponent PPG	39.4	2018
Team YPG	324.1	2018
Team Opponent YPG	344.0	2018
Team TO Difference	7	2018

Offensive Game Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Year
Pass Yards	187	Feleipe Franks	Week 1, 2019
Pass Touchdowns	3	Feleipe Franks	Week 1, 2019
Completion Percentage	92.3%	Feleipe Franks	Week 1, 2019
QB Rating	215.9	Feleipe Franks	Week 1, 2019
Rush Yards	273	Jordan Scarlett	Week 3, 2019
Rush Touchdowns	3	Jordan Scarlett	Week 3, 2019
Receptions	6	Jordan Scarlett	Week 1, 2019
Receiving Yards	90	Jordan Scarlett	Week 1, 2019
Receiving Touchdowns	1	Jordan Scarlett	Week 1, 2019

Defensive Game Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Year
Tackles	9	C.J. Henderson	Week 4, 2019
Sacks
Fumbles Recovered	1	Jabari Zuniga	Week 1, 2019
Interceptions
Fumbles Forced	1	Trey Dean	Week 1, 2019

Special Teams Game Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Year
Field Goals	1	Evan McPherson	Week 4, 2019
Kick Return Touchdowns
Punt Return Touchdowns

Offensive Season Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Year
Pass Yards
Pass Touchdowns
Completion Percentage
QB Rating
Rush Yards
Rush Touchdowns
Receptions
Receiving Yards
Receiving Touchdowns

Defensive Season Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Year
Tackles
Sacks
Fumbles Recovered
Interceptions
Fumbles Forced

Special Teams Season Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Year
Field Goals
Kick Return Touchdowns
Punt Return Touchdowns

Career Offensive Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Year
Pass Yards
Pass Touchdowns
Completion Percentage
QB Rating
Rush Yards
Rush Touchdowns
Receptions
Receiving Yards
Receiving Touchdowns

Career Defensive Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Years
Tackles
Sacks
Fumbles Recovered
Interceptions
Fumbles Forced

Career Special Teams Records

Record Title	Record	Player	Years
Field Goals
Kick Return Touchdowns
Punt Return Touchdowns

Coaching Records

Record Title	Record	Coach	Years
Wins
National Championships
Playoff Appearances
Conference Championships
Conference Championship Appearances
Bowl Wins
Bowl Appearances
Rivalry Wins